#Japanese Gods — Index and Genealogy

Contents

Summary + Canon. This document is the hub for the rank-by-rank files and a short prefatory summary for readers encountering Japanese myth for the first time. Find each god's data in the rank-by-rank files.

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#Japanese Shinto in 30 Seconds

Japanese Shinto (神道) is a religion in which "the gods are countlessly many." So many that they are called the eight million (八百万) gods. These gods are not avatars of a single creator; each arises independently from nature, place, occupation, and event.

• Kami (神) — gods in general. From great gods like the sun, the storm, and the sea down to the small god of the hearth.
• Kamuy — a word used by the Ainu (the indigenous people of Hokkaido). The same "god," but of a different grain.
• Shinto gods are rooted, by and large, in the Kiki (記紀, Kojiki + Nihon Shoki) myths. At their center is Amaterasu Omikami (goddess of the sun), and that her bloodline runs to the imperial house is Shinto's core narrative.

Long intermingled with Buddhism, there are also blended divinities such as the Seven Lucky Gods (七福神). These, too, are treated as "gods" in this supplement.

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#Basic Genealogy (Axis of the Kiki Myths)

     Kamimusubi · Takamimusubi (Amenominakanushi — primordial god, outside this supplement's scope)
             │
          Izanagi · Izanami ← the creator couple (Imperial God)
             │
     ┌────────────────┼──────────────────┐
     │        │         │
  Amaterasu     Tsukuyomi      Susanoo
  (sun·Imperial God) (moon·Great God/boundary) (storm·Great God)
     │                  │
    Ninigi ───────────────┐       ─── Okuninushi (Izumo lineage·Great God)
  (heavenly descent·Great God)     │          │
     │          │          │
    descendants (to the imperial house)  Konohanasakuya     local gods
             (flowers·childbirth·Great God)

How to read it: vertical arrows are parent-child lineage. The Kiki myths are complex, so this chart pulls out only the relationships that come up most often in play.

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#Rank-by-Rank Files — Where to Look

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#Major Relationship Web (Handy for Building Scenarios)

#Three Siblings — Amaterasu / Tsukuyomi / Susanoo

The three gods born when Izanagi returned from Yomi and cleansed his body. Their realms are sun, moon, and storm respectively, and this relationship is the origin of the separation of day and night · separation of heaven and earth. In particular, the conflict between Susanoo and Amaterasu (the incident where the brother Susanoo angered his sister and she hid in the Heavenly Rock Cave (天岩戸)) is the heart of the Shinto narrative.

#Two Lineages — "Heaven (天) Line" vs "Country (国) Line"

• Heaven (Takamagahara) — Amaterasu's side. Through the heavenly descent, Ninigi came down to earth and became the ancestor of the imperial house.
• Country line (Izumo) — the earthly lineage running Susanoo → Okuninushi. They ruled the earth first, and their ceding it to heaven by the "land-yielding (国譲り · cession of the country)" is the turning point of the Kiki myths.

The land-yielding appears often in play. Izumo is a land that holds "the memory of the defeated side."

#Later Ages — Hachiman and Tenjin

• Hachiman — a being who was the 15th Emperor Ojin (応神) deified after death. The supreme guardian god of the warrior class.
• Tenjin — the case of Sugawara no Michizane (a 9th-century scholar and statesman) who died bearing a grudge and became an onryo, then was enshrined and settled into the god of scholarship. The archetype of a heroic spirit → Middle God promotion.

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#A Short Guide for Newcomers to Japanese Mythology

• If a god's name is hard to memorize, just remember the Japanese sound + that god's role. Example: Amaterasu = sun, Susanoo = storm, Okuninushi = king of Izumo. Refer to the rest on the data cards as needed.
• The Kiki myths are complex, with many variants by region and era. This supplement pulls out only the skeleton needed for play.
• You may read the detailed myths outside the game — play runs on this supplement alone.

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#Recommended Reading Order

1. This index (this very document).
2. Imperial Gods — know just 3 and the system comes into view.
3. The rest when needed.

In particular, reading the gods who will appear in the current session first is the most efficient.